Unalaska is Entirely Alaskan

Neither snow nor wind nor threat of volcanic eruption could keep us from our expedition on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. We’ll spend 40 days aboard the icebreaker in the Bering Sea, following scientists as they do their work, studying how climate change could be affecting the Bering Sea ecosystem.

We and the scientists joined the Healy in Dutch Harbor, a port in the Aleutian Islands of southwestern Alaska. We moved on board on Wednesday, April 1, unpacked our bags, and settled into our staterooms, then spent Thursday exploring the town of Unalaska.

About 4,000 people live in Unalaska permanently, but the population more than doubles during the fishing seasons, when workers come from around the world to work in the seafood processing plants. The name Unalaska comes from an Aleut word meaning “close to the mainland.”